Moszkowski: Symphony in D minor

[FBerwald]

Interesting that when listed on Toccata Pipeline the disk included the "Cortege" (which is not part of Laurin, but a separate standalone piece). This, however, is missing from the actual release. Perhaps there just wasn't time in the recording sessions to set it down. Doubtless it will appear on a later disk in this marvellous survey of Moszkowski's orchestral music.

Are there other unrecorded works left to make a CD recording worth of Orchestral pieces?

[eschiss1]

Redownloading Assenov's dissertation from here- unless they're going to give us a recording of Boabdil (which I don't know of a recording of?) a good-sized suite from it, or perhaps the ballet music from it, would be nice...

[Raffzunov]

My order from CPO, with the vol. 4 of Moszkowski and vol. 4 of Potter is on the way.

[Ilja]

This morning I was finally able to download this recording. Before I go further, I must add that I have had a long-standing infatuation with this work, ever since I heard "Im Walde"'s digital rendering in 2018. It was in fact the first such rendering that I succeeded in actually enjoying. So let's say, I knew I was going to like the music, but I also had already formed an opinion on what I would like this first recording to have sounded.

As to the recording, I'm not one hundred percent sold - yet. The main issue for me is that Hobson sounds quite rushed in the first and, albeit to a lesser degree, third movements. The second and fourth are fine in terms of tempo, and he shines particularly in the finale which (for once) may be the strongest movement. But I would have liked the music to breathe a bit more in the opening; particularly the "switch" from the solemn entry to the exposition of the first theme is rather sudden and a bit jarring. Moreover, the sound of the recording isn't ideal, and I suspect (without any evidence at all) that this might have been why we've had to wait ununsually long (for Toccata) for this release. It's not that the sound is bad per se, but it does get tinny in places and it's just a touch too reverberant for my liking. But I'll perhaps revise my view after a few more listens.

Having said that, I am exceedingly grateful that we finally have a decent recording of this fine symphony, and I'll enjoy many more occasions of listening to it.

Edit: The Laurin Suite is great. It is what you expect from a ballet suite, but still has surprising  on the one hand while tickling that Hall of the Mountain King sense as well. Fabulous stuff.

[Jonathan]

My copy arrived yesterday, I won't have a chance to listen this weekend though due to a family emergency.

[Ilja]

After a few further listens, I must confess that I apparently needed a bit of time grow into a different interpretation from the one I'd grown used to. It's not even THAT different; timings are overall a bit swifter than in the digital rendition by "Im Walde", except for the finale which is almost identical in length. Hobson's approach is anything but idiosyncratic, which, for a first recording of a piece, is always commendable. But keeping in mind that this is young man's symphony, I think his decision not to dawdle seems sensible. 

Yes, it's not particularly profound music - the B minor concerto, written only a year later, demonstrates how much he was still growing as a composer at the time. And the Johanna d'Arc symphony of 1879 shows greater depth and ambition; but at the expense of losing the dynamism that makes the D minor symphony such an attractive work. For me, it falls in the same camp as (most of) Brüll's roughly contemporary music, Gouvy's early symphonies, or Bizet's C major (as the still much-missed Alan Howe pointed out some time ago).

[terry martyn]

I agree with Ilja!

[terry martyn]

Ilja describes (quite rightly,in my view) the Joan of Arc as a "symphony".  It was so described ,back in the 50s, in the sleeve-notes to an old Eclipse LP, featuring the Spanish Dances.